One of the talking points repeated by advocates of heavy-handed utility-style regulation on broadband internet service is that internet service providers say one thing to Wall Street and something else to Washington.

Broadband is having a profound impact on the medical industry by serving as the wired backbone supporting connectivity to the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Access to broadband is critical to ensuring consistent communication between emerging medical devices as more health organizations depend on this technology to help patients monitor their health and communicate with physicians.

Broadband influences American lives every day. For example, television reigned supreme for decades as the go-to device for media entertainment, with more than 44 percent of households boasting three or more televisions in 2009. By 2015, that percentage had dropped to 39 percent.

Here comes the sun---and the moon! Embrace your broadband connectivity to find out the when, where and how to view the eclipse. NASA’s live stream of the solar eclipse will feature views from NASA research aircraft, high-altitude balloons, satellites and specially-modified telescopes – including live reports from across the country.

It’s college time! Students are flocking to campuses nationwide, excited about a year full of new friends, exciting adventures and enriched learning. Thanks to broadband connectivity, there are a host of eTools ready to support scholars as they navigate campuses and celebrate independence. The Life 360 app pinpoints the exact location of friends and family while the Circle of Six app allows students to call six emergency contacts with just the click of a button.

In his first remarks as FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai declared his highest priority: making sure every American who wants internet access can get it. Since that day, he has consistently taken steps toward that goal. A key component of the strategy to get there is fostering broadband infrastructure investment.

When online classes were first introduced, many people didn’t understand the concept, much less the feasibility. Today, many prominent and prestigious schools and universities offer online coursework. A recent study estimates 3.5 million students were enrolled in online degree programs in 2016 – a number expected to grow to 5 million by 2020.

More Americans have choices between broadband service providers at faster speeds than four years ago, according to a new USTelecom / CensusNBM analysis of the most current Federal Communications Commission broadband deployment data. Nearly half of U.S. households now have access to download speeds of 25 Mbps from two or more wired broadband providers and at 10 Mbps, that figure jumps to 65 percent of households, according to the report.

While broadband is widely deployed across the United States, availability continues to lag in rural areas compared to urban and suburban areas, according to the most current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband deployment data. As of mid-2016, 86 percent of rural households had access to wired broadband at any speed compared to 99 percent of Americans in urban and surburan areas.